Goin’ All Veggies : A Guide to Becoming a Vegetarian by Bella Edwards - HTML preview

Chapter 4

Making the Switch

If you are considering making the switch to a vegetarian diet, you probably will want to pass your newfound nutritional knowledge onto your family. In fact, as a parent you probably want to ensure that your family is receiving the best nutrition possible. It also helps them to learn about why it is important to eat healthy.

Making the switch with a family can be difficult because children are even more tempted from the various fast food restaurants and commercials for snacks on television. It’s very hard to make veggies look good over chicken nuggets and a free toy!

You have to slowly change you and your family’s diet. Everything starts at the grocery store. Instead of cookies, buy apples, bananas, carrots and other tasty snacks. Exchange white rice for healthy, brown rice. You also want to avoid processed side dishes. Slowly make your meat portions smaller and increase more veggies and grains. If you have small children, it is much easier to make this switch. You can teach them from an early age that olives are good snacks and that peaches are good desserts. They will learn to love these foods and they won’t even know about all the other junk food out there. The real challenge will come when your children are in school and they have to learn to make healthy choices.

The idea is to gradually change so that it is easier on you and your family. Many children will change simply because you tell them that they are saving the lives of animals. Children are very sympathetic and it’s not unusual for children to become vegetarians on their own accord simply because they don’t want to eat animals.

Your children may not realize it now, but you are doing them a huge favor that will last them their entire lives. Childhood obesity is at epidemic levels in the US and you will be setting your children up for a healthy lifestyle by teaching them how to eat healthy now.

Stuff You Need to Start Cooking Vegetarian Style

You will use the same type of cooking supplies that you already use. However, you may need to breakout the blender and food processor if you aren’t using it on a regular basis.

There are also several new ingredients and foods that you will be incorporating into your diet including:

Fruits & Vegetables

Egg Whites, Soy Milk & Dairy (Unless You Are Giving These Up)

• Egg whites
• Milk
• Dairy Milk
• Soy Milk

Noodles & Rice

• Rice noodles
• Soba noodles
• Brown basmati rice

Nuts & Seeds

• Almonds
• Cashews
• Peanuts
• Sesame Seeds
• Sunflower seeds

Legumes

• Black beans
• Chickpeas
• Lentils (Red, green and brown)
• Split Peas (Yellow and green)
• Kidney beans

Other

• Coconut milk
• Nutritional yeast
• Pure Maple Syrup
• Raw, unrefined sugar

Breakfast & Brunch

Breakfast is an important meal that many people skip. The fact of the matter is that if you eat at least your three basic meals per day you will actually lose weight, if that is your goal. Also it does not have to be boring and dull and the vegetarian has a few tasty options.

Apple Cinnamon Granola

Ingredients

• 4 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
• ½ cup honey
• 2 tbsp. Sunflower oil
• 1 cup dried apples, finely chopped
• ½ cup raisins

Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, mix oatmeal, wheat germ, cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts. In a separate bowl, mix honey and sunflower oil and drizzle over the top of the mixture. Mix together, stirring constantly, until the oat mixture is evenly coated with honey and oil. Lightly oil a large baking sheet and spread the mixture over the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Once the granola turns golden, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Prepare jars to place the ready granola in. Once cool, add dried apples and raisins and transfer the mixture into jars. Store in a dry place.

Makes 6 cups.

Simple Crepes

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup + 2 tbsp. All purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 tbsp. Granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. Vegetable oil
• Pinch salt
• 1 tsp. butter
• Whip cream, for the filling
• A few handfuls of strawberries, rinsed with stems removed and cut in half
• A few handfuls of raspberries, rinsed and drained
• A few handfuls of blueberries, rinsed and drained

Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar, oil and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer batter into a mixing bowl, cover and set aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Add the butter into a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, add ¼ cup of the batter into the pan and swirl around to coat the whole bottom of the pan. Cook until the crepe lightly browns, about 1 or 2 minutes. Flip over and cook the second side until lightly browned. Transfer to plates and spray a line of whip cream down the middle. Sprinkle in your fruit. Fold the sides gently to make a cylinder.

Makes 8 to 12 crepes

Vegetable Omelet

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp. Milk
• Big pinch of salt
• Big pinch of black pepper
• 1 tbsp. Butter
• ¼ c. green bell pepper
• ¼ c. red bell pepper
• ¼ c. onion
• Grated cheese to taste (optional)

In a medium size mixing bowl beat eggs, salt, pepper, green and red pepper and onion with a fork. Do not over mix. Melt the butter in a 7 to 8 inch pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the butter covers the base of the pan. When the foam is gone, pour in the egg mixture. Tilt the pan to make sure the egg covers the entire base of the pan. Let the eggs set for 45 seconds before flipping. Do the same on the other side. Once done, transfer to a plate and sprinkle with cheese.

Smoothies

Smoothies are great and very healthy. You can have them as snacks or drink them with your brunch.

Breakfast Smoothies

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups plain fat-free yogurt
• 3 to 4 bananas
• 3 cups of strawberries, stems removed and roughly chopped
• ¼ cup soy milk
• 2 tbsp. Honey
• 1 cup of ice

Mix ingredients into blender one at a time and serve.

Banana and Yogurt Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana, thinly sliced
• 1 cup low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt
• ¾ cup skim milk

Set aside two or three slices of banana and place the rest of the banana in the blender. Add yogurt and milk. Blend until smooth and garnish with extra pieces of banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Mango Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 mango, peeled and chopped
• 1 banana, peeled
• 3 tbsp. Yogurt
• 1 tsp. honey
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 4 cubes of ice

Add ingredients to blender one at a time and puree until smooth.

Pear Smoothie

Ingredients

• 3 pears
• ½ inch fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp. Fresh yogurt
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 4 cubes of ice

Gradually juice the pear, ginger and cinnamon together. Transfer to blender and add yogurt and ice. Blend until smooth.

Appetizers & Side Dishes

These make great sides to a healthy meal or an appetizer. You might even want one for a snack!

Special Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

• 4 bread rolls
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp. Butter
• 1 tbsp. Chopped basil
• 4 large tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. Tomato paste
• 8 black olives, pitted and halved
• 1 ¾ ounce mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. Olive oil
• 2 tsp. lemon juice or Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp. clear honey
• Basil leaves for garnish

Place rolls on cutting board and slice each in half. Transfer to a toaster oven or oven to brown and crisp. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Place butter, garlic and chopped basil into a small mixing bowl and stir until combined. Once rolls are toasted, spoon garlic mixture onto each half.

Pour boiling water into a large bowl, slice a small cross shape at the base of each tomato and place in boiling water. After tomatoes soften, remove and peel the flesh away from the tomatoes. Once flesh is removed, chop into small squares. Pour diced tomatoes, tomato paced, and olives in mixing bowl and blend together. Spoon onto rolls.

In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice and honey together. Drizzle mixture over tomato covered rolls and light place mozzarella slices on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place rolls on baking sheet and place in oven. Melt cheese for about 2 minutes.

Transfer rolls to a platter or tray and garnish with basil leaves.

Spring Rolls

Ingredients for Spring Rolls

• ¾ cup broken rice vermicelli noodles
• 6 fresh shitake mushrooms
• ½ cup carrots, slivered
• 1 cup bok choy, thinly sliced
• 1 cup green onion, slivered
• 2 tbsp. Chopped coriander
• salt and ground pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. Soy sauce
• ½ tsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh ginger
• Eight 8 inch square spring roll skins
• 3 tbsp. All-purpose flour
• ¼ cup water
• 4 cups vegetable oil

Ingredients for Salad

• 1 cup daikon radish, slivered
• 1 cup carrots, slivered
• 4 green onions, slivered
• ½ cup red onion, slivered
• 1 cup slivered cucumber, juice squeezed out

Ingredients for Dressing

• 2 tbsp. Seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. Soy sauce
• ½ tsp. sesame oil

Place noodles and mushrooms into individual bowls and cover with hot water. Cover bowls and set aside for 20 minutes. Once noodles and mushrooms have soaked transfer to colander and drain. Transfer into a large bowl. Drain mushrooms as well and transfer onto a cutting board. Remove and discard stems and slice mushroom heads thinly. Add into a large bowl with noodles.

Add carrots, bok choy, green onion and coriander onto the bowl of noodles and mushrooms and mix together. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and toss mixture to combine. Cover and set aside.

Pour soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and fresh ginger into a small bowl. Stir mixture to combine well. Cover and set aside.

Gently pull spring roll skins apart and place on a flat, clean surface. Using a small spoon place, ¼ cup of the noodle and vegetable mixture onto the upper third of each skin. Roll once and then take the two ends and fold them in and continue to roll the skins forward until it forms a cylinder. Whisk together flour and water in a bowl until well combined. Using a small pastry brush, coat spring roll with just enough flour and water mixture to seal the edges. Repeat with all rolls.

In a wok, heat some of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once the wok and oil are hot add spring rolls in 3 at a time. Fry <